Wreck-It Tecna
by Robert Teague
Summary: While exploring Gardenia, Tecna comes across Litwak's Arcade and decides to check it out. She soon discovers Sugar Rush has a problem...
1. Arcane Arcade

Wreck-It Tecna

by Robert Teague

This story was written for the entertainment of Winx Club and Wreck-It Ralph fans, and no copyright infringement is intended. This story may be reproduced, provided no changes are made and you let me know.

Chapter One Arcane Arcade

Gardenia, Tecna decided, was a nice place to visit, but she wouldn't want to live there permanently.

Compared to the Magical Universe, it was primitive. Their internet was slow and intermittent and didn't have much in the way of bandwidth. Cars still rode on tires, instead of using levitation tech, and they used smelly oil-derivative fuels instead of fusion.

And, of course, magic was almost non-existent. That would change if their mission to find the last Earth fairy was successful.

She had decided to take the rare day off to explore, and learn what she could about the city. Love and Pet would open on Monday, and she looked forward to that. The Wizards of the Black Circle had yet to show their faces since the Winx arrived,  
and she hoped they would continue to be no-shows. But she didn't really have much hope for it.

As she walked, she used her palmtop to mark places of interest with the local GPS system. She had to admit, that was one thing that worked well here.

Passing a building she came upon an open parking lot with a couple of businesses at the back, almost under the freeway. The sign by the street announced one to be Litwak's Arcade.

Arcade? A place people went to play games? That sounded interesting, so she marked it on the palmtop.

Since she hadn't done anything today except walk and observe, she decided to check it out. It might be a diversion, and she would get a look at how Earth people entertained themselves.

There were a few cars and a lot of bicycles clustered around the entrance, which she took as a hopeful sign it would have interesting things to see.

Going inside she was confronted with a darkened room filled with game machines making all kinds of noise and flashing lights. People were busy playing, or watching while waiting for their turn. Some were wandering around, trying to decide which one to play next.

"Can I help you, Miss?" came a raised voice from her right.

She looked to see an older man in a striped shirt behind a counter. There were drink and snack machines nearby, and she made a mental note to mention it to Bloom. It might make a nice sideline at Love and Pet while customers waited.

"I wanted to look around, see what kind of games are here," she answered.

The man smiled. "Be my guest. I'm Mr. Litwak, the owner."

"Tecna," she answered with a nod, "I'm new in town."

"I see," he nodded, "I hope you find something to your liking."

"Mr. Litwak, the soda machine took my money, and didn't give me anything," said a child in a whiney voice.

"Okay, Arthur, let's see what we can do about it," was the answer. He headed to the machine in question with the boy in tow.

Dismissed, the Fairy of Technology turned and wandered around the room, peering over the shoulders of players and trying to comprehend what they were doing. She realized these games were simple and slow, and she could literally run rings around everyone here at anything.

"Ten minutes to closing," Mr. Litwak announced, "Finish your games, but don't start another."

There was a collective groan, and the energy was sucked out of the room.

A large console caught her attention, so she headed for it. The last players got up and headed for the door, leaving her alone by it.

"Sugar Rush..." she thought, "Hm... seems to be a first-person racer." Looking over the game, she saw where it was all mechanical and solid, so prone to break down. In the Magical Universe, the seats and controls would be hard light, and the screens replaced with virtual reality eyewear. Looking in the screen, she saw the graphics were, by her standards, fair at best. She shook her head. Gotta start somewhere, I suppose.

Between the game screens was one showing nine racers, which she instantly realized were the avatars for the players. In the Magical Universe, the player would actually be doing the driving.

Suddenly she realized something was wrong. There was a strong bad feeling emanating from the machine. Was the programming breaking down? A virus? Something mechanical? Electrical short?

As a technical fairy, it was practically her duty to find the problem and fix it. Glancing at a clock, she saw where it was just six minutes to closing. Hopefully that would be long enough. If not, she would tell Mr. Litwak, and offer to come back and do the repair.

But first to figure out the problem.

She sat down in one of the two seats and wiggled around to get comfortable. There was a steering wheel in front of her, and a lever to her right with seemingly random letters and lines on the knob. There were three pedals on the floor, one tall and skinny, the other two fat and wide. A coin slot and a button marked START was on the dashboard by the speedometer.

She didn't have any local coins, but reached over and pressed START anyway.

"Closing time!" Litwak announced, "Everyone out!"

The customers headed for the door, except for one girl with glasses and brownish-blond hair.

"Mr. Litwak, I saw something weird," she told him.

"What was that, honey?" he asked, as he took the tray from the cash register.

"A woman with pinkish hair sat down at Sugar Rush, pushed the button, and vanished," she said.

He glanced at her, and saw she was being serious. As one of his regulars for several years, he knew she didn't make things up, But this?

"She couldn't have, could she?" he said, "Maybe it just looked that way. Maybe she fell off the chair. But I'll go see."

He put the money away, and wiping his hands followed the girl over to the console. As he hoped, nobody was there. If the girl HAD fallen off the chair, he might be looking at a lawsuit.

"See? Nobody's here. You must be mistaken," he told her.

"But I coulda swore..." She stared in confusion for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess you're right. See you later!" She headed for the door, which was clear now.

Litwak wandered around looking for the woman, but had no luck. He finished his closing routine, turned off the lights, and locked up for the rest of the weekend.

WIR/WC WIR/WC WIR/WC

The first thing she was aware of was the smell of sweets. Candy, cake, pie, every possible scent was coming to her, and threatening to make her sick. It wasn't as if she didn't like such treats, but in moderation. This was just overwhelming.

Sitting up slowly she opened her eyes and looked around. It took a moment for the scenery to snap into focus. Standing up slowly, she gathered her wits and took in the sight.

"I'm in Sugar Rush!" she realized. She wasn't as surprised as one would think. Digit occasionally went into her laptop to play a game, but she had never done so herself. "Then I was right; there is something wrong, and the game brought me in to help."

From the inside, the graphics were much better. The details were clear, sounds full. She touched a candy cane sprouting from the ground, and found it solid. VR couldn't do any better, and she was actually impressed. Digit had told her about the differences between inside and outside a game, and she wished now she had paid more attention.

But the smells! She was going to get sick if it lasted much longer. "Have to do something about that." She cast a minor spell on herself that gave her air and filtered out all scents. "Much better!" she thought, breathing deeply.

she took out her palmtop, but as she expected the GPS didn't work. The place she was in was smaller than the precision of the system. She did use the sensors to make a crude map of the area so she could find her way back to where she appeared, if it was important.

Just then a roar of voices and motors came to her from over a line of chocolate ice cream hills.

"okay, there's a goal," she thought, "Now I can find out what's going on."

She raised her arms. "Winx Enchantix!" and with a flash of light changed into her fairy form. She took off in the direction of the noise, gaining altitude to prevent being spotted too early, before she knew what the situation was.


	2. Stands to Reason

Chapter Two Stands to Reason

Princess-turned-President Vanellope von Schweetz stood facing the other fourteen racers of Sugar Rush. The arcade was closed and they had all Sunday to decide the next roster, so she was having a meeting to announce some changes.

"Do we REALLY have to change this? It's worked great for years!" Taffyta Muttonfugde objected.

"Let me explain, before you cry about it!" said Vanellope, in a loud voice. This had the desired effect; everyone quieted down.

"Yes, King Candy's idea of a race to decide the roster works well, and we're keeping it," she said, and everyone gave a sigh of relief.

"But what I want to change is the eligibility," she added, "I looked over the records, and found where some of you, mostly the recolors, rarely make the cut. So, starting after today, each day's top six can race, but they can't be avatars the next day. The day after that, they are eligible again, and the last six are not. Get it?"

There was silence as everyone worked it out.

Sour Bill, standing by her, looked up at Vanellope. "I told you they wouldn't go for it."

She glared at the green hard candy for a moment, then turned back to the others.

"Okay, it sounds fair to me," said Candlehead, "As long as I can still race."

That broke the uncertainty, and the other racers agreed to try it.

"Let's get the Random Roster Race underway!" said Gloyd, loudly. His voice carried, and the stands of different types of candy shouted in agreement.

The other fourteen racers headed for their cars waiting at the START line, and Vanellope turned to her assistant. "See? I was right."

"Uh huh..." the depressed candy answered.

"Hey, President Glitch, what's going on?" said a voice the black-haired girl was happy to hear.

"Ralph!" she shouted, and jumped into his huge arms, giving him as much of a hug as their size difference allowed.

"Don't forget us!" said Fix-It Felix, who was standing by his wife Tammy. She was still wearing her game armor.

"Hiya, Short Stack!" the gruff soldier said with a smirk.

"What are you guys doing here?" asked Vanellope, with a smile as wide as her face.

"Oh, we're going to cut a rug at Dance Dance Revolution, and thought we'd see if you want to join us," answered Felix.

"You bet!" said the girl. "But first we gotta..."

"Hey, Prez, you're holding up progress!" shouted The Swizz from his car.

"Back in a bit," the aforementioned Prez said, "Why don't you watch from the King's Stand?"

"Let's do this!" she shouted, and headed for her kart.

The race started to a thunderous roar, both from the engines and the crowd. Ralph, Tammy, and Felix watched from the stand, cheering on their friends.

Near the end of the race, Taffyta was in the lead, to no one's surprise. Vanellope was a distant sixth, having been the victim of a sticky trap set by Adorabeezle. Vanellope had decided that, even though her glitching teleport ability made her a favorite of the gamers, she didn't use it during the Roster Race.

The race ended with Vanellope coming in seventh; Jubileena had power-upped at the last moment and blew past her. She didn't begrudge the position she earned; she was having fun. The recolor named Torvald had won for the first time in weeks.

Everyone was cheering as the racers crossed the FINISH line. Felix happened to look up, and saw a dark object against the blue sky and cotton candy clouds. It had wings. He tapped his wife's arm to get her attention.

"Honey, look," he said, pointing, "Is that a..."

"A cybug? Yeah, I think so," she replied, "I'm on it." She pulled out her flying sled and tossed it to the ground, where it expanded into shape. She jumped the side of the stand and landed neatly on it. A tap of a switch at her foot and it powered up, the blue flames of its rockets flaring to life. "Back in a bit."

She took off toward the cybug, angling to come up behind it. Below, everyone stopped and watched. The nervous talking started almost immediately. They all remembered what had happened when the cybugs had invaded the game.

Overhead, Tecna watched the end of the race. She counted fifteen cars, more than what the roster on the console showed. Preoccupied, she didn't hear the whoosh of Calhoun's jet sled behind her, but she did hear the rising whine of her laser as it activated.

Just as she started to look behind her, a pencil-thin beam of coherent light flashed and cut a hole through her left wing.

Tecna screamed in agony, and started losing altitude.

"What th- that's not a cybug!" muttered Tammy.

Instantly deciding what to do, she angled down and headed for the wounded... person. Getting under her, she easily caught the now-unconscious girl, trying not to further damage the wings.

Moments later she landed in a clear spot near the karts, and stepped off the sled. Everyone was running toward her. Ralph was the first to arrive.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed, "Who is she?"

"What game did she come from?" asked Felix.

"No idea," said Tammy, laying Tecna down carefully. "You've been here longer than me. You tell me."

Vanellope and Taffyta arrived at the same time. They studied the girl for a moment, puzzled.

"Wait a sec," said Taffy, "Candle, wasn't there some kind of game that involved fairies and elves fighting trolls?"

"Oh, yeah, I remember," she answered, the flame of her candle flaring briefly, "It wasn't very popular. I tried to talk to the fairies a couple of times, but they were all stuck up and ignored me."

"Guess she must have been out of the game when the plug was pulled, and ended up in here somewhere," said Ralph.

"She doesn't look like the others, though," added Candlehead.

"Anybody ever seen her before?" called Taffyta, but only got 'nos' in response.

"I can fix that wing," said Felix, pulling out his magic hammer. He gave the hole a gentle tap, and with a ping and shiver, it closed. You couldn't even tell where it had been damaged.

"Good job, buddy," commented Ralph.

"Her wings are pretty," said Minty, and Citrusella agreed with her.

"Sour Bill, don't we have a bed big enough for her in the Candy Castle? We can take her there," said Vanellope.

"If you must," said Bill in his monotone.

"Go make sure the bed is ready; we'll be right behind you," she directed, and the green ball rolled his eyes and left.

"I shot her, so I'll take her," said Tammy, picking up the fairy.

"Thanks, darlin'," said Felix.

Just then Tecna rolled her head and groaned.

"I think she's coming to," said Ralph.

"Ya think, Stinkbrain?" said Vanellope, "What was your first clue?" She was grinning at her best friend, to take the sting out of the insult.

"Don't make me come over there, President Seventh Place," retorted Ralph, "You probably wouldn't survive a spanking with THESE hands!" He grinned back, but narrowed his eyes at her.

Vanellope gulped, and took a step back.

Tammy laid her back down, and motioned everyone back a step or two.

Their visitor sat up, opened her eyes, and took in the people around her. "H- hello, I'm Tecna of Zenith, the Fairy of Technology."

Everyone was silent, staring at her.

Tecna stood up and flexed her wings for a moment. "No pain, and the damage is repaired. Thank you for the attention."

"Thank Felix, he did it," said Ralph.

Felix held up his hammer. "With this."

The fairy raised an eyebrow. "With a hammer? Hm. Must be magic."

"Why, yes, it is!" he answered, twirling the tool and putting it back in its holster.

With a flash of light, Tecna reverted to her normal form.

"I'm Vanellope von Schweetz, President of Sugar Rush. What game did you come from?" asked the girl, putting her hands in her sweatshirt pockets.

Her answer was the last thing they expected.

"Actually, I didn't come from a game," she answered, "I'm from the outside."

"Didn't come from a game?" asked Taffyta. "What, did you hit your head or something? You can't be a gamer, that's completely impossible!" She unwrapped a sucker and put it in her mouth.

"Not at all," answered Tecna, "I'm the fairy of technology, and I'm magical. I have a bonded pixie that goes into games to play." She looked around at the crowd of game characters. "But it's my first time doing so."

"Okay, putting that aside for now, why are you here?" asked Ralph.

Tecna turned her attention to the large man. "I felt something was wrong with this game, and when I sat at the console it pulled me in."


	3. Barriers Broken and Raised

Chapter Three Barriers Broken and Raised

It was Felix that broke the silence.

"Golly, where are my manners? I'm Fix-It Felix, and this is my friend and nemesis, Wreck-It Ralph," said the handyman. "We are from Fix-It Felix Jr."

"I recall seeing your game," nodded Tecna, "Looked like fun."

"This is my wife, Tammy Calhoun, from Hero's Duty," he added.

Vanellope snickered, as she always did at the word 'duty', but since this was an unusual event, said nothing.

"Ah, yes, a war game," said the fairy. She was tempted to tell them about some of the first-person fighting games she had played, but decided now wasn't the time.

"Nice to meet you," said Tammy, shaking Tecna's hand. "Sorry about almost getting you killed. I thought you were a cybug."

"A Cybug? What might that be?"

"The things I fight in my game, a first-person shooter. One of them got loose here-" she glared briefly at Ralph, who had the grace to look embarrassed, "-and we thought it was happening again. They nearly destroyed this game."

"I see," said Tecna. She held out a hand and her palmtop appeared in it. She made some adjustments to the sensors, then turned in a circle, watching the readout. "Well, I can tell you cybugs are not the problem. There are none within range of the scanner, and it goes to the edges of the world."

Tammy pulled out her sensor and took a reading. "Confirmed," she said, "This doesn't have your range, but there are none I can find."

"Oh, may I see that for a moment?" the fairy asked, "I always like to examine new technology."

"Uh, sure..." the soldier handed it to her.

Tecna looked over the device, then took off the back. She peered closely at the components, then looked at its owner. "I notice there are a few minor shorts, but there is no reason for it not to have the same range as mine."

"Hero's Duty has a smaller world than Sugar Rush," she answered, "It does go to the edge there." She held out her hand for the device.

"Ah. Half a mo..." Tecna pulled out a tool that looked something like a screwdriver, and poked around inside for a minute. Then she closed the back and returned it.

"There you go. I fixed the shorts and increased the range," she said.

Tammy tried it out. "Wow, it does work better!" she exclaimed. "The range readout is a lot more accurate now! Thank you!"

"You're quite welcome," Tecna nodded, modestly.

The other racers had clustered together, whispering, and now they broke up.

Candlehead stepped up to the fairy, who was as tall as Tammy, and spoke. "Miss Tecna, will you tell us about the world outside the game?"

"Oh, yes!"

"Great idea, Candle!"

"I want to know!"

The other responses were lost in a combination of voices, and everyone crowded around her.

"Well... I don't see why not!" said Tecna with a smile.

Since she was distracted, Vanellope took the opportunity to motion Tammy, Ralph, and Felix over.

"Do we trust her?" asked Vanellope, when she had hopped up onto Ralph's shoulder.

"Hard to say," said Ralph, thoughtfully.

"She seems nice, though," said Felix.

"I'd be cautious," said Tammy, "She might be a virus in disguise. And we KNOW how to handle that." She patted her laser rifle.

Ralph looked at her. "She fixed your doohickey, and you still say that?"

"Better safe than sorry, Mountain Man."

They all looked over at the visiting fairy, who had squatted down to the racer's eye levels, and was talking to them.

"No... somehow, whoever and whatever she is, I don't think she's a virus," said Vanellope. "I just don't get that kind of vibe from her."

"I agree," added Ralph, "But I also agree we should be cautious."

"So, let's find out," Vanellope decided. She hopped down and addressed to the others.

"Hey, everyone!" she called, and attention turned to her. "Since we have the roster ready, and our schedules are open until Monday morning, let's have a party at the castle tonight! Tecna can tell us all about the outside then!"

The idea was readily agreed to, and everyone took off for their homes to get ready. The lids of the various stands closed with the candies still inside.

"Why is that happening?" asked Tecna, pointed toward the last one to close.

"Oh, they exist just to be race fans. They don't have homes, or names, or back stories like we do," said Taffyta.

"I see... interesting..." answered Tecna, absently.

"I'm going to the castle now," said Vanellope, "You guys give... uh, Tecna a quick look around. Maybe she can find whatever the problem is."

"Sure, good idea!" said Felix.

"Thanks! See you when you get there!" She jumped into her kart and took off in a cloud of sugar dust.

For the next couple of hours, Tecna wandered around asking questions and taking readings. She found nothing out of order, but still had that feeling something wasn't right.

As they passed the exit sign of the candy bridge that led to the power cord that served as a passage, Tecna stopped walking.

"And what is that?" she asked, staring at the dark opening some distance away.

"That's the power cord for Sugar Rush," answered Ralph, "It leads to Game Central Station. You can get to the other games from there."

"Say, since we're right here, let's go to Game Central," he said, "Let her get a look around."

"That sounds fascinating!" the fairy said, "Let's go!"

They followed the ribbon of candy to the opening. Tecna had fallen a little behind, taking readings on her palmtop.

Just inside the cord, the other three looked back, just in time to see the interference pattern start.

"Watch-" started Ralph, but too late.

Tecna was stopped like she had run into a wall, causing her to drop the palmtop. She stepped back, retrieving her tech, then put a hand forward. There was a hum and a brief warping of the view. Her hand was stopped at the edge.

"What has happened?" she asked, looking at her hosts.

Tammy lifted her weapon. "You sure she's not a virus?"

"Darlin, a virus wouldn't be stopped like that," answered Felix, "There's another reason."

"Yeah, she's like a glitch," said Ralph, and everyone looked at him.

"Remember Vanellope couldn't leave the game either, when she was a glitch," he clarified, "I guess since, she's from the outside, the game doesn't recognize her as part of it, so treats her like a glitch."

"Glitch...? You mean a piece of programming that shouldn't be there?" asked Tecna.

"Yeah, that's it," answered Ralph.

"Hm... I would say that confirms my feeling; that the game itself brought me here to help. That's why I can't leave it," said the fairy thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," said Tammy, putting her rifle away. She looked at her husband and friend. "Since we're this far anyway, why don't we go get ready for the party?"

"Yes, lets!" said Felix.

"You gonna be okay until we get back?" Ralph asked Tecna.

"Oh, certainly," she nodded, "I'll finish my survey and go to the castle. That's it, right?" she pointed at the large ornate building.

"Yep, that's it," said Tammy, "We'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Bye, ma'am," said Felix, with a flourish of his cap.

Ralph rolled his eyes, and gave Tecna a quick wave. Then the three of them headed off into the power cord.

"See you soon," Tecna called, then headed back down the path.

At the head of the bridge she paused for a quick rest and looked toward the castle. It was a good way off, and she was tempted to change forms and fly, but decided that, since there was no hurry, she could walk and continue to take readings. After all, she might miss something while off the ground.

She made her way to the grandstand area, which now stood empty and quiet. All the racers were gone, the lights of the starting line off, as were the jumbotrons. She made her way over to one of the closed boxes and raised a corner. Inside, the hard candy lollipops sat motionless, eyes closed, waiting for the next race.

Behind the stands she found the pit area. Each one had a tent filled with tools and spare parts for a particular kart. The candy mechanics crew sat on a bench, eyes also closed, and motionless. It seemed only the humanoid racers, with the exception of the green hard candy whose name she never caught, had enough code to have lives.

"Excuse us, Miss," said a voice behind her, "President Vanellope wanted us to bring you to the castle."

Turning, she found a doughnut and an eclair dressed as policemen approaching.

'I stand corrected,' she thought.


	4. Party in the Palace

Chapter Four Party in the Palace

As the technical fairy approached the bottom of the hill leading up to the castle, flanked by Wynchell and Duncan, she remembered it might be a good idea to contact the other girls. She had no idea how much time had passed in the real world.

"Excuse me a moment, I need to make a call," she told them. She pulled her cell and speed-dialed Stella's number.

"Hi, Tecna!" the Solarian princess answered after two rings, "We were just starting to wonder where you are. Did the Wizards get you?"

"Oh, no, not at all. But I am in an unusual place. If everyone is there, put me on speaker, please."

"Sure, hang on. Girls! Tec's on the line, and wants to talk to all of us!" Stella called loudly.

"Go ahead," the blond said a few seconds later.

In a few sentences. Tecna explained where she was and what had happened, leaving her friends stunned.

"You're inside a game?" asked Flora. "That's so strange!"

"I've seen Digit play games in Tec's laptop," said Musa.

"I'm not sure I would want to experience that," the Nature Fairy said with a quaver in her voice.

"Flora, I can't see you ever being in one, but it sounds like fun to me," Aisha said.

"Me too," added Musa.

Stella snorted. "I've got better things to do."

"So... can we help?" asked Bloom.

"I don't think so. The arcade is probably closed so you'd have to break in, and you don't want to do that," she answered.

"No, you're right about that," said Bloom, "It wouldn't make a very good impression of fairies for the people here."

"Everything seems fine here so far, except for the feeling of wrongness," Tecna continued, "And besides, none of you have my expertise with technology and programming."

"Gee, thanks..." muttered Stella.

"I am not being insulting; I'm being logical," protested Tecna.

"We know, Tec, don't worry about it," said Aisha.

"The game may not have enough memory for additional outsiders to operate," she added, "Best not to push it."

"Didn't think of that, did you, Stella?" Tecna could hear the smirk in Musa's voice.

"No, of course not!" retorted the blond, "I'm a princess, not a..."

Everyone was quiet, waiting to hear how she would finish the sentence.

"Gamer," she closed, lamely. There were a number of snickers.

"I'll continue this mission alone, but will call again if I need help," said Tecna, who was not insulted, and getting back to the subject.

"Yes, let us know, and we'll be there as soon as we can," said Musa.

"Thank you, friends. I'll be back as soon as I can be; I don't want to miss the grand opening of Love and Pet," she replied.

"Be careful, sweetie!" called Flora.

Tecna looked up briefly. "Oh, one thing, is the sun still up there?"

"Yeah," said Aisha, "About an hour from setting."

"Hmm... so the days are synchronized. That will help. Thank you. Good bye!" she hung up to her friends returning the farewell.

"So, can I ask who you were talking to?" asked Wynchell as they resumed the hike.

"My friends," she answered. "I didn't want them to be worried."

"They gamers?" asked Duncan.

"Not really, we are usually too busy for games, and our business opens Monday," she said.

"Hmm... well, good luck with it," the pastry replied. Personally he wasn't so sure this person was actually from outside the game worlds, but he would obey the president's orders.

WIR/WC WIR/WC WIR/WC

In the palace, they were met by Vanellope. As the two exchanged greetings, the Sugar Rush security force made a discreet exit. Sour Bill stood by the throne, apparently wrapped up in his own thoughts.

"Hmmm... lots of pink," commented the fairy, looking around.

"Salmon," retorted Vanellope, unknowingly echoing King Candy, "It's salmon color."

"Very well; salmon," nodded Tecna.

A table had been set up filled with cakes, pies, ice cream, and candy. There were various soft drinks from a dispenser at one end.

"Lemme show you around," said the girl, and headed for a door.

The Candy Castle was large, but rather cozy inside. It was made of various sweets, and Tecna was silently glad she had cast that filter spell on herself. As close and enclosed a place as she was in, the smell would have made her sick very quickly.

On the tour she glanced down a side corridor, and saw it was different from the rest of the castle.

"What's this?" she asked, stopping and peering curiously toward the door and device with buttons at the far end.

"That's where you get to the game code," answered Vanellope, a bit reluctantly.

Tecna raised an eyebrow. "You can access your own code?"

"Yeah, that's how King Candy took over. I don't have the code for the door, though, and wouldn't know what I was doing anyway," said Vanellope.

"Best not to meddle, then," the fairy answered.

"If we made too many changes the gamers would notice, tell Litwak, and he might decide to pull the plug," added the girl. "That would end everything."

"I see. Shall we continue?" Tecna could tell the young president was uncomfortable being here, and she wanted to have her trust.

They came to the bedroom Sour Bill had picked out for their guest. It was large and airy, with tall windows and the pink ...salmon... walls. The bed was large and comfortable, even though it did seem to be made of candy. A bathroom was through a door to one side, with all the standard fixtures.

As the fairy finished her look around, Sour Bill came in.

"Miss President," he intoned, "The guests are here."

"Great!" said Vanellope, "C'mon, Tec!" She grabbed the fairy's hand and dragged her out.

The party in the throne room was in full swing when they got there.

Sour Bill used his standard announcement for them.

"All hail our rightful ruler... President Vanellope. And guest." he sighed and headed for another door.

At one point Tecna noticed three of the racers looked alike, and also two sets of twins with only differences in coloring.

"Why do so many of you look alike? she asked Snowanna. "something wrong in the code?"

"Oh, no, the racer replied, "Some of us are recolors. They were made to add more racers, but they don't have back stories or official kart names."

"Seems like a lack of creativity on the part of the programmers," she said in a low voice.

"We've always thought so too," said Snowanna, "But nothing we can do about it."

An hour later Candlehead went over to Tecna, who was holding a cup of soda and staring at the table full of treats.

"Something wrong?" she asked, looking up.

The technical fairy glanced at the racer. "I'm trying to decide if I'm hungry or not. This is all just desert and snacks for me, and I'm not used to such a diet."

Felix had wandered up on her other side, and spoke. "You probably aren't really hungry," he said.

"What do you mean?" asked Tecna.

"You just think you're hungry," he answered, "When you came into the game, you were converted to code. We're code, and we rarely eat, and I'd bet you're the same way. But your body still thinks of you as normal."

The fairy nodded. "That is logical. I'll just nibble something. Maybe that will help."

"You know, I've always wondered about that," said Rancis, coming up to them, "Why we would eat at all since we don't need it. So it's because we were written to resemble the gamers?"

"Apparently," nodded Tecna.

"Hey, everybody!" called Vanellope, "Let's get Tecna to tell us about the outside!"

They sat down in a cluster of chairs, and Tecna told them about the outside world. They asked a lot of questions, some of which she couldn't answer because she was new to Earth. She demonstrated her magic for them,

Then they told her about Sugar Rush, and King Candy's takeover, and his destruction when the cybugs got loose. Vanellope demonstrated her glitching teleport ability for her.

"I imagine that comes in handy at times," Tecna said.

The evening wore on, and the guests got tired, so they finally called it a night.

The racers told Tecna they looked forward to seeing her tomorrow, and that she could count on them to help with the problem.

Ralph, Felix, and Tamara headed for Game Central, saying they had things to do to prepare for the arcade opening Monday, but would help if they were needed.

Using her palmtop's maps, Tecna made her way back to her room. The bed was surprisingly warm and comfortable, even if it was made of candy. She fell asleep quickly.


	5. The Challenge

Chapter Five The Challenge

Vanellope went to Tecna's room and knocked on the door. "Tecna? Time to get up! You've still got a problem to find and fix."

No response.

She knocked again, but nothing. No reply, no sounds of someone moving around.

She opened the door, and saw the bed was empty. It had been slept in; she could tell. The door to the bathroom was open, and obviously empty as well.

"Tecna?"

"Hello, Vanellope. It's been a while," said a figure standing in a dark corner. As she turned toward it, the person stepped into the light.

"KING CAN- Tur- Whaaaa...?"

"King Candy will do," he replied, and indeed he looked the same as he ever had, except he wore no crown.

"How can you even be here?" Vanellope asked, eyes wide.

"Oh, I was destroyed in that volcano your friend started all right, but I wrote myself into the code years ago," he answered, "And when you crossed the FINISH line and reset the game, I was reset too."

He looked down at himself. "Unfortunately, I lost the extra abilities the cybug gave me, but no matter. I don't need them now anyway."

"Where's Tecna?" asked Vanellope, looking angry.

"Your delusional friend is safe... for now," he grinned.

"She better be! Wait a sec... delusional?" she cocked her head at him.

"Oh, please, Vanellope, of course she's delusional!" he rolled his eyes, "She claims to be a gamer! From outside! You know as well as I do that's impossible!"

"Some of the others thought she was from that Fairies vs. Trolls game," said Vanellope.

He shrugged. "Could be. But anyway..."

"What do you want?" Vanellope interrupted.

"Don't act stupid!" he growled, "You know perfectly well what I want! To be king again!"

She returned his glare. "Not a..."

He stopped her with a raised finger. "Better hear me out, before you finish that sentence."

She closed her mouth, but continued the glare.

"Very good," he nodded, "I would demand that you abdicate to me immediately, but because of the game's nature, that doesn't work."

She crossed her arms and tilted her head at him, but stayed silent.

"We'll have to race for it. And I'd better not catch one whiff of Wreck-It Ralph's halitosis," he continued, "One more thing. if you want to see your other friend again, You. Will. Lose."

"Suppose I agreed to this," said Vanellope, "What would happen to me when you take over?"

"You? You'd become an ordinary racer, like everyone else," he answered.

"You wouldn't delete me?"

"Nah," he shook his head, "I've watched you race. You're one of the best, and I like a challenge. But the game will reset, accept me as king, and you will never be in charge again."

The girl stood silent, thinking.

"Come on, Vanellope, I know you," said King Candy, "You're too much of a free spirit to enjoy being in charge. Why not just let me have the job again? Then you could relax and focus on racing."

She was wavering, he could tell.

"Well..." she said at last, "Do you promise to release Tecna unharmed when we're done?"

"Absolutely!" he vowed, "And you know I've never broken a promise!"

"Yeah, that's true... Okay, then, I agree. Let's do this," she answered, without enthusiasm.

She turned to the door.

"Cheer up, Vanellope, you'll see your fairy friend soon enough," said King Candy, as he followed her out.

wir/wc wir/wc wir/wc

Tecna sat immobile, encased up to her shoulders in solid dark chocolate. She was in a dim, rough room like a cave with some trash strewn around on the floor. There was an occasional strange sound like something falling into liquid, followed by a roaring sound. She had no idea what it could be.

When she woke up, a strange man who introduced himself as King Candy was there. She had been told of him last night, but everyone thought he was dead.

He was the source of the feeling of wrongness, she realized. And now she knew why. Another bad guy wanting power. She readily conceded he was clever, though. She couldn't imagine how he could have put her in liquid chocolate without burning her.

He had explained who he was, why she was there, and what he was after. Considering her position, she was polite and listened to his speech without comment.

"You just stay there and rest," he told her at last, "When I'm king again, I'll make sure you're released." He turned to go, but at the entrance turned back.

"Oh, and by the way, I wouldn't move around much," he said, "If you do, you'll be catapulted into the lake of boiling diet soda." He laughed and disappeared outside. A moment later she heard a kart crank up and leave.

She waited a minute to make sure he was gone.

"Lake of boiling diet soda? Now this I have to see! Enchantix Mini-Winx!" As she miniaturized her wings grew, and she took flight within the cavity of chocolate her body had made.

The loss of weight set off the catapult, and the lump of chocolate flew toward the lake, tumbling as it did. She made her way out just before it splashed down.

Getting her bearings, she flew back to the shore, but stayed mini. The large room had the lake in the middle, and the next most prominent thing were the stalactites made of a hard round candy. One would drop into the lake, causing the sounds she had heard.

It was odd, though, the chocolate hadn't made such a reaction. She'd have to research what kind of candy make diet soda explode. what was this place, though? An unfinished bonus round? Have to remember to ask.

Taking in more of her surroundings, she saw a crude track had been made circling the lake, and in a niche was what appeared to be a bed made of sponge cake. But it had obviously not been used in some time.

She flew through the place she had seen King Candy leave, and found herself alone outside. He had taken her to a large bottle-like structure for safekeeping. A... diet soda bottle, she realized. Strange... Then she remembered seeing it at a distance; the tallest object around.

Gaining altitude she spotted the castle and headed that way. Staying miniaturized would help prevent her from being spotted, but would take her longer to get there.

Finally flying in through an open window, she buzzed through the castle looking for Vanellope, and found her just in time to hear most of her conversation with King Candy.

When they left she followed at a discreet distance and near the ceiling. She had to smile at Sour Bill's expression of shock when his old boss came into the throne room.

As Vanellope and King Candy drove their respective karts down to the track, she flew the straight way and got there first. She hid behind the top of the grandstand, to wait for her chance.

The other racers were at the start area, talking or fiddling with their karts. Some karts were in the pits having last minute adjustments. Today they usually raced just for practice and mechanical checks.

Everyone was stunned at the appearance of King Candy, and he and Vanellope went to the grandstand and used the microphone system to explain about the race for ruler.

While Vanellope had a legitimate gripe, the other racers weren't really that upset with him; he had only sealed their memories. They decided to see what would happen and not interfere. The viewers in the stands talked among themselves, but really had no voice in the event.

The racers moved their karts away from the START line, and King Candy and Vanellope took their places.

As they sat, their engines warming up, Tecna flew up to Vanellope on the side away from King Candy.

"Vanellope!" she said in a loud whisper, "Don't let him see you react, but it's me, Tecna!"

The girl cut her eyes toward the mini-fairy, and spoke from the corner of her mouth. "Tecna! I'm glad you're okay! I'll stop this race right now!"

"No, don't!" was the reply, "I heard everything, and know what's going on. I have a plan, but you have to make sure he wins."

"You want him to WIN? I'm not sure that's a good idea..." said the game's president.

"Trust me, I'll take care of him," said Tecna.

"What have I got to lose?" said Vanellope, "Okay, then, I will trust you. Whatever you've got planned, go for it."

"Okay, thank you, and don't worry," nodded the fairy, "Just make sure he crosses the FINISH line first."

Vanellope sighed. "Okay, I will."

Tecna flew away just as large green letters appeared in the air ahead of them.

3...

2...

1...

GO!


	6. The Race for President

Chapter Six The Race for President

As the two karts left the START line, Tecna flew toward the Candy Castle. King Candy was in for a nasty shock.

Getting to the castle, she flew inside and headed for the code room. Getting to the corridor, she landed and walked down to the imposing metal door, growing back to normal size as she did.

She studied the controller that was the combination lock, but it meant nothing to her beyond being primitive technology. Putting a hand on it, she muttered "Unlock!" and with a flash of green magic, it did so.

But before she could pull the door open, Sour Bill came in.

"What are you doing?" he asked, but apparently not really very interested in the answer.

"I am going to stop King Candy from taking over again," she answered.

The hard green candy studied the fairy for a moment, then said, "Carry on." He turned to leave the room, but stopped when Tecna called to him.

"Sour Bill, how long does a race last, in general?" she asked.

"Usually about ten minutes," he answered, "Why?"

"That gives me a deadline. Thanks," she replied. "I'll finish here and go back to the FINISH line. You might want to be there as well."

There was silence for a moment, then he said, "I'll think about it," and left the corridor.

Tecna shook her head and returned her attention to the task at hand.

Opening the door, Tecna was surprised at the mass of white cords and blocky objects. She flew slowly up to the edge, looking carefully at the patterns. She had seen a representaion of a program before, but it looked nothing like this. What she had seen was neat blocks of code stacked together, like bricks arranged in a pyramid. This was just... messy.

She noticed that each block had a label, which would make her task easier.

Floating around she found the karts, the tracks, the scoreboard and giant TVs, the characters, and finally she found its leader, Vanellope. She was going to make sure the girl's code was intact first.

She opened the block of code, almost afraid of what kind of chaos she would find. But surprisingly it was neatly organized, and the components readily accessible.

She smiled. "Ah, I see how it works now..." Studying what she found, she realized what had been done to it. "Oh, my!" she thought, I'd better hurry and fix this! She reached inside to make some changes.

A few minutes later she had finished her repairs, and turned to look for the other block she wanted, King Candy. She found the code and opened it.

wir/wc wir/wc wir/wc

Vanellope took an early lead as they went into the gumball drop. Both were skilled racers, and avoided the large round candies as they rolled erratically over the track.

Getting into a flat stretch, she grabbed a power up. A missile launcher appeared over her, and she turned it and fired behind her. "Even if I have to let him win, it doesn't mean I'll make it easy for him." she thought.

The Sweet Seekers launched and homed in on King Candy's kart. He avoided two of them, but the third exploded close enough to make him skid out, slamming against the rail. That delay cost him time and ground.

"Okay, Glitch, if you want to play it that way..." he thought, and sped up.

By the time he caught up with her, it was on top of the birthday cake, and he had missed a chance to use the embedded cherry bombs against her. She flashed through the tunnel and made the leap across the gap, and he was no more than a few seconds behind her.

Vanellope saw she had slowed too much, and wasn't going to make the ramp. This was a chance to lose the race honorably, with no one the wiser, to protect Tecna.

"No," she thought, "I'll make sure he earns it." She glitched, disappearing from mid-air and reappearing past the edge of the ramp.

Glancing behind, she saw King Candy make the jump, with room to spare. She hit the gas and sped on down the track.

A lane that would add speed to her kart came up, and she took it. And then she saw a set of power-up blocks not far past the end of the lane. It would take a fancy manoever to catch one. She tried, but missed by inches.

King Candy didn't bother with the speed lane, opting to grab the power-up. An ice cream cone appeared over his kart. He knew the track ahead narrowed to one lane for about a quarter mile, and that was when he would get her.

With her speed boost, she was pulling farther ahead in the one-lane section. He grinned, waiting for the right moment. It came as she neared the end of the narrows. The ice cream cone would hit her, and it would stick her to the ground just past where the track widened, allowing him to get past.

"Now!" he yelled, and hit the button. The cone flew toward his nemesis, who looked back just in time. She glitched and the cone missed her, covering a large section of the track, but leaving him with enough room to get by.

"Grrr... that little..." he thought, "She'd better remember our deal!"

They entered the tunnel, driving smoothly down the candy ribbon track in the near-dark. He watched as Vanellope took the right-hand side of the split tunnel. But as he neared the end, he suddenly had a flashback to the cybug waiting for him. He lost control for a moment, but was able to make it into the left hand side.

"No need to worry, no cybugs waiting, just my crown!" he told himself. "The finish is just ahead."

He came back into the light, but Vanellope wasn't ahead. He looked around, and found her behind him, pacing his kart on the right side. She had slowed down to allow him to win. He smiled to himself. Naive girl! She was doomed even if she won!

As the FINISH line came closer, the sounds of the candy fans grew louder. The other racers were on the sidelines, watching but not cheering. Then he saw someone who shouldn't... couldn't be there! That delusional fairy! How had she escaped? She was standing beside the racers, arms crossed, watching the finish with a neutral expression. Oh, well, it didn't matter. He was going to get what he deserved in a few seconds!

He hit the gas and roared over the finish line.

"THE WINNER, KING CANDY!" said the announcer, "Second place, Vanellope von Schweetz!"

King Candy rolled to a stop, and hopped out of his kart, hoping to catch a glimpse of the glitch's expression as she was deleted, permanently. But she had come to a stop as well, and was surrounded by the other racers. She hadn't disappeared! What had gone wrong?

He dropped his helmet into the kart and ran over to them.

"What's going on here?" he asked.

"Not a thing!" answered Vanellope, "I hereby abdicate the throne in favor of King Candy!" she announced. Then she held out a familiar object. "Here's your crown!"

"Thank you!" he replied with a grin. He put it on his head, where it slipped over and settled in its usual place. "Ah,  
that's much better!"

And he glitched.

"Whaaaa...?" he exclaimed as it happened again.

"I went to the code room and undid the changes you made to Vanellope," explained Tecna, "And made some to you."

He glitched again, and the racers took a step back.

"I gave you a chance, though," she added, "Even though you didn't give her one."

"What do you mean?" he asked, worriedly.

"If you had changed your mind and not won the race, or prevented Vanellope from crossing the line, or refused the crown after, you would have been fine. You could have lived here and raced with the others to your heart's content," she said. "But since you didn't, and continued your scheme, it is your finish. I set a timer for long enough to explain it to you, and you should be deleted about...

"NOOOOOO!" he shouted. With a final glitch, King Candy vanished and his crown hit the ground with a clang. His kart glitched and vanished as well.

"...now."

And a cheer went up from everybody.

"I guess we should call you Wreck-It Tecna," commented Taffyta, "You sure wrecked his plans!"

"Don't worry, he won't be back," said the fairy with a smile, "I found and deleted every copy of his code he had in reserve."

Vanellope jumped up and gave her a hug. "Thank you, Tecna! you've done Sugar Rush a real service!"

"It was my pleasure," she replied. The feeling of wrongness had disappeared with King Candy.

"The party tables are still set up," Sour Bill said, "Are you going to celebrate with everyone else?"

"Yes, please do!" said the other racers.

Tecna glanced in the direction of the sun. "I would love to, but I really should be going. It's getting late in the afternoon on Sunday, and I need to rest before Love and Pet opens tomorrow. Not to mention I'm still hungry."

"Awwww..." said everyone.

"Besides, I think the game is about to send me back anyway... I feel an odd tugging inside. But I'll come back for a visit when I can," she added.

"You promise?" asked Vanellope.

"Of course! Fairy's honor!" she changed to Enchantix form.

"The arcade is closed," pointed out Candlehead.

"Yes, but I have ways of getting around that, don't worry," she answered. "Say goodbye to Ralph, Felix, and Tammy for me!"

"I will! Goodbye, Tecna, and thank you!"

And the world of Sugar Rush faded from the fairy's sight.

Back in the real world, she invoked Mini-Winx again, and tossed a spell at the camera, to make sure it didn't record her return. Then she phased through the door, and into the late afternoon sun.

It had been a strange, exciting experience, but now she was glad to be back in the mudane world. Her mission awaited, and she didn't want to be late.

The End


End file.
